(Daily Tribune/MICHAEL P. McCONNELL)
David Garcia, head of the gay community center Affirmations in Ferndale, said favorable Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage Wednesday will help generate support to overturn the same-sex marriage ban in Michigan.

(Daily Tribune/MICHAEL P. McCONNELL)
People applaud the Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage cases as they were announced Wednesday at Affirmations, a large gay community center in Ferndale.

The Supreme Court's rulings on two landmark gay-marriage cases were met with cheers and applause by those gathered Wednesday in Ferndale at the state's largest gay community center.

But almost as soon as the applause died out, gay activists and supporters began to talk of the fight ahead in Michigan and reflect on how the court's rulings might affect their own lives.

David Garcia, executive director of the community center Affirmations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered members, said the fight for rights is far from over.

"We can't get married here" in Michigan, Garcia told those gathered at the center. "We haven't won that right yet, but we will."

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In what is seen as a victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California.

Still, the rulings were narrow and the two 5-4 decisions failed to make any sweeping statements either in favor or against same-sex marriage.

One decision wiped away part of a federal anti-gay marriage law that has kept legally married same-sex couple from receiving tax, health and pension benefits.

The other decision was a technical ruling that said nothing about same-sex marriage, but left in place a trial court's declaration that California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The court said nothing about the validity of gay marriage bans in California and roughly three dozen other states.

Same sex marriage has been adopted by 12 states and the District of Columbia.

Garcia said Wednesday's rulings will have a political and social impact on an emerging effort in Michigan to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage.

"There's no question that what happened today will give us momentum," he said. "We want to have gay marriage in Michigan by 2016."

A group called the Michigan Marriage Coalition, of which Garcia is a member, will soon make a statewide announcement on a same-sex marriage campaign, he said.

Cindy Clardy, 63, of Southfield showed up at Affirmations carrying a large placard to which she had attached pictures of herself and her lesbian partner from a gay commitment ceremony outside Ferndale City Hall in 2005.

She said the Supreme Court's decisions marked a great day, but she wants her own marriage to be recognized by the state just like the marriages of her straight children.

"Maybe by the time I'm 70 we'll have a full marriage," Clardy said, adding that she hopes to see Michigan's same-sex marriage ban overturned.

Clardy and her partner's relatives were surprised they weren't invited to a reception party after the couple quietly made their commitment to each other eight years ago.

"We decided to wait and we're going to invite everyone when our marriage in legally recognized," she said.

Garcia told a crowd of about 20 people at Affirmations that gay marriage will need the support of straight people to succeed.

"I think it's beyond time the straight community came out of the closet" with their support, he said. "It will be the straight community that helps us win the right to marriage in Michigan."

Syeda Davidson, an attorney who is straight and sits on Affirmations board of directors, said while Wednesday's decisions represent a small victory, the legal fight is far from over for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.

"This battle for LGBT equality is the civil rights battle of our time," she said. "I think a lot of it is going to involve educating people, because you have to change people's opinions for this to work."

Former Ferndale Mayor Craig Covey, who was the first openly gay mayor elected in Michigan several years ago, waited with others at Affirmations until the Supreme Court decisions were announced. Covey, 56, said he was encouraged by how much progress the gay-rights movement has made.

"I get goose bumps when I think of the progress we've made since 1975," he said. "I was 18 years old then when I walked into my first (gay-rights) meeting in Columbus, Ohio, and we were really alone. I've watched an entire society change for the better. Now I just have to find a husband."